Supporters

I found a new supporter, Ian McEwan author of a book “Solar”. This is the youtube link to a video ending with this quote, “I think any environmentalist over age 50 has come to support nuclear”.

There is a growing number of people who come from all walks of life who have decided to support Nuclear Energy. Those who want to do their homework don’t need to dig very hard to discover that we have advanced way beyond the days of nuclear proliferation and that as people are finding out. The claims and fears of the uninitiated are unfounded. In other words Nuclear Plants and Nuclear Bombs are not connected. To say one leads to the other is like saying some people kill people therefore no one can be trusted.

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“Open Science” is a concept that is illustrated by the EnergyFromThorium site which is more than a blog site. “Deregulate the Atom” also needs to strike a balance between discussion of regulation issues and the organization/prioritization of actions to fix the issues. Discussion (blog) is needed to accumulate opinions/ideas/experience but that is not enough. Deregulate the Atom should have the goal of producing a list of actionable items that if taken would “Deregulate the Atom”. So I am asking you to provide one more button called “Action List” (or something like that). By pressing that button one would find a list of actions to be taken. Each action would include a succinct description plus a link to longer description including all the advantages and examples of the current bad regulation plus a link to the blog containing the best discussion of this issue.
Although I do not have the knowledge to contribute to this open deregulation effort, I commend you on seeing an unmet need and diving in. May our grandchildren appreciate your efforts.

Robert Stone is working on a Film called Pandora’s Promise one of the themes of his documentary is presenting the people who have had a change of heart from antinuclear to pronuclear. Here are some of the people involved: Stewart Brand, James Hansen, Gwyneth Cravens, Richard Rhodes, Charles Till, Stephen Tindale, Anne Lauvergeon, Charles Komanoff, James Lovelock, Mark Lynas, among others.

Recent post on BraveNewClimate.com called Who Has Changed Their Mind adds
1) George Monbiot who is a UK journalist who has been a respected Environmentalist who has changed his mind since the March 11 events of Fukushima Daiichi plant.
“Before I go any further, and I’m misinterpreted for the thousandth time, let me spell out once again what my position is. I have not gone nuclear. But, as long as the following four conditions are met, I will no longer oppose atomic energy.
1> Its total emissions – from mine to dump – are taken into account, and demonstrate that it is a genuinely low-carbon option
2> We know exactly how and where the waste is to be buried
3> We know how much this will cost and who will pay
4> There is a legal guarantee that no civil nuclear materials will be diverted for military purposes”http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2011/mar/16/japan-nuclear-crisis-atomic-energy
2) Patrick Moore – cofounder of Greenpeace
3) Christie Whitman – former director of EPA Environmental Protection Agency in US
4) James Lovelock
5) Gwyneth Cravens – Author
6) Steve Kirsch
7) Dick Smith – Australian entrepreneur green advocate
8 ) Chicco Testa, formerly anti-nuclear and leader of the environmentalist group that was instrumental in the landslide victory in the 1987 referendum that effectively killed nuclear in Italy, who later turned into a strong pro-nuclear position, probably given his experience as head honcho at ENEL, the partly State-owned energy incumbent who ran the nuclear plants.
9) Jared Diamond prominent writer and involved with WWF.http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0812-31.htm
10) Tony Blair
From The Guardian, July 2006:
I’ve changed my mind on nuclear power, admits Blair
Tony Blair all but confirmed the government would commission a new series of nuclear power stations today, as he admitted to MPs he had “changed his mind” on the controversial issue.
Three years ago an energy review put nuclear on the back burner while pushing for more renewables, but Mr Blair put that position in doubt when he commissioned another review last year.
Today he told the panel of senior MPs: “Whereas we left the question open and we were very sceptical at that point [of the first review], certainly, I’ll be totally honest with you, I’ve changed my mind.”
11) Al Gore
12) Al Franken
13) Ian McEwan – writer anti to pro (as with Jared Diamond sorry).http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/hard-science-and-soft-humanity-at-home-with-ian-mcewan-1919972.html
14) Hugh Montefiore – a prominent reverend and chairman of Friends of the Earth from 1992-1998. He was forced to resign from FoE after coming out in favour of nuclear energy.